


Mistletoe

by captainamergirl



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: Christmastime in Salem, HoRita, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2018-12-30 09:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12105765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: A Horita 3-part Christmas story.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is all of the Horita parts from my "Blame it on the Mistletoe" story collection which is still running at ff dot net.

“You’re standing under the mistletoe,” Will’s kid sister Allie said with a giggle.  
  
Will looked up and then at Paul who was standing about two inches away from him. Sure enough, they were positioned right under a sprig of mistletoe strategically placed in the doorway of The Brady Pub.  
  
“That means you have to kiss!” Will’s brother and Allie’s twin Johnny chimed in. “Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.”  
  
“But they’re boys,” Theo Carver said as Will and Paul looked everywhere but at each other.  
  
“Kiss. Kiss. Kiss,” Johnny and Allie had begun to chant.  
  
Will sighed. “You three go _scram!_ Now,” he said.  
  
“But Will -”  
  
“No buts, Allie, please go,” Will said and the kids groaned but took off running towards the adults.  
  
“Saved by the bell, right?” Paul said, scratching the back of his neck.  
  
“Right,” Will said hurriedly. “I mean it would be weird to kiss you.”  
  
“Wait, weird?”  
  
“I mean… You know what I mean!” Will said, flustered now.  
  
“No, I don’t think I do.”  
  
“Well, you’re Sonny’s-”  
  
“Ex-boyfriend. We were over a lifetime ago.”  
  
“But he loved you. Sonny loved you and -”  
  
“He loved you too. But remember, he left us both so -”  
  
“I know … So - so are you saying we should kiss?”  
  
Paul shrugged. “Well, we’ve done it before…”  
  
“That’s how the trouble all started…”  
  
“You’re right. Why open another can of worms because of some stupid old tradition or superstition or whatever this amounts to?”  
  
“Exactly,” Will said. Still, he and Paul both hovered under the mistletoe, not daring to move, each silently debating the consequences of kissing each other again after all of this time.  
  
“Will-” Paul started.  
  
“Paul-” Will said at the same time.  
  
They looked at each other and laughed. “You first,” Paul said.  
  
“No, you.”  
  
“Okay, well, I was just thinking you know, with Sonny being gone - his choice - he couldn’t possibly begrudge us a kiss.”  
  
“Yeah you’re right.” Will saw the kids staring at them expectantly, as well as some of their adult friends and family members. “And we wouldn’t want to disappoint our audience, now would we?”  
  
“No, definitely not,” Paul agreed. The guys both leaned in for a kiss at the same time, crystal blue eyes riveted on smoky brown ones. Will’s hands came up to knot in the fabric of Paul’s baseball jacket and they stood there, lips moving and exploring each other’s, for what could have been two seconds or two minutes.  
  
When they finally parted, they received enthusiastic applause from everyone there. “I give you both a 10 for technique and pure hotness,” Abby whispered as she passed by them.  
  
They didn’t say anything, just looked at each other covertly and then hurried in opposite directions. Paul slid into a booth with John and Brady as Will joined his mom, and the kids, including little Ari, and Theo and Ciara at a table.  
  
Every so often, when they thought the other wasn’t looking, Paul and Will would sneak a glance at the other. However, one time, their eyes did meet and they both smiled at each other, a new awareness between them very evident.


	2. Chapter 2

Will had been trying all morning to work on his latest article without success. He sighed and tossed down the pen he had been holding, instead curling his fingers around the mug of hot chocolate before him.  
  
After a time, realizing that he would get no work done today, he decided to head home. He started to gather up his things just as the door of the pub suddenly swept open, bringing with it a cold gust of air.  
  
Paul Narita stood there. His eyes locked with Will’s. Will instantly flashbacked to the kiss they had recently shared under the mistletoe. _If only Will were standing in that doorway now…_  
  
Will tried to shake off the thought.  
  
Paul moved over to him. “Hey, Will. Leaving so soon?”  
  
“I was thinking about it, yeah.”  
  
“The weather’s pretty bad though... Maybe you should wait it out with me.”  
  
Will felt his face heat up. “Okay,” he found himself saying. He motioned to the waitress. “Refill please,” he said, gesturing to his empty mug. “Oh and one for my friend.”  
  
Will felt Paul’s eyes boring into him. “Did I say something strange?”  
  
“Yes, you called me your friend,” Paul said.  
  
“Well, you are. In a way. I mean, we’ve been through the trenches together and all that.”  
  
Paul nodded. “You’re right.” He tugged off his gray Polo scarf, exposing his beautiful neck. Yes, Paul Narita had a beautiful neck, Will mused. Whoa. _His thoughts today though._  
  
“So,” Paul said, scuffing the soles of his boots against the hardwood floor, “what are we drinking?”  
  
“Hot chocolate.”  
  
Paul’s lips twitched. “Oh the hard stuff, huh?”  
  
“Hey I’ll have you know, real men drink hot chocolate.”  
  
“Do they?”  
  
“Yes. It puts hair on your chest.”  
  
Paul chuckled. “Are we really having this conversation?”  
  
“You have a better topic?”  
  
“Sure...Uh…”  
  
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Will said facetiously.  
  
“I … Well, I got a postcard from Sonny in the mail yesterday.”  
  
“I got one too,” Will said. “Seems he’s settling into his new life pretty well.”  
  
“Yeah, it seems so,” Paul said. “I am glad he’s doing good.”  
  
“Me too.”  
  
“Do you miss him?”  
  
“Of course. You?”  
  
“Yes, but I realized awhile back that we were never going to work out. I was his past,” Paul said.  
  
“Well, now so am I,” Will said. “I will always love him.”  
  
“I feel ya.”  
  
“This is weird,” Will said.  
  
“What? Talking about the lover we have in common?”  
  
“Well that, but it’s also weird how well we’re getting along.”  
  
“I always liked you, Will.”  
  
Will’s cheeks heated. “Oh yeah?”  
  
“Yes. Even when I was jealous of you.”  
  
Will smiled. “I was jealous of you too. I was sure you and Sonny were going to get back together.”  
  
“Nah. You were the epic love of his life. I can admit that now.”  
  
“Well, in the end, we both lost him.”  
  
“Yes we did.”  
  
“But look at us,” Will said, “we’re doing pretty great now, right?”  
  
Paul smiled. “I guess things aren’t too bad.”  
  
“We’re doing just fine,” Will went on. “Look at us able to sit at the same table without running in the other direction.”  
  
“We’ve come so far,” Paul said with a teasing grin.  
  
“Yes, we have. We should drink to that.”  
  
“Oh yeah. Let’s make a toast with hot _cocoa.”_  
  
Will laughed. “What do you have against hot _chocolate?”  
_  
“Nothing. _Although_ it is a little too sweet.”  
  
“Oh and Paul Narita doesn’t do sweet. Duly noted."  
  
Both men laughed as the waitress set their drinks in front of them and walked away.  
  
Paul picked up his cup. “Here goes nothing,” he said. Will watched him guzzling, memorized by Paul’s lips on the mouth of the mug.  
  
Paul noticed Will staring. “What? Did I get something on my chin?”  
  
“Actually, you did. There’s a little cream right there,” Will said, pointing to Paul’s strong chin. Paul felt around but missed the little glob of it. Will immediately grabbed for his napkin and leaned over to dab at Paul’s face. If he were being honest with himself, he would have to admit that he relished this chance to get close to the sexy former baseball player.  
  
Paul smirked as if reading Will’s thoughts. “What?” Will asked, cheeks flaming.  
  
“You were cleaning me. It’s such a … dad thing to do.”  
  
Will smirked. “Well, I am a dad, but I wasn’t exactly - Paul, you’re definitely not a kid.”  
  
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”  
  
“So how was the hot chocolate?”  
  
“Are we back to that?” Paul asked with a laugh. “Are you determined to get me to like it?”  
  
“Yes I am,” Will joked. “And anyway, don’t pretend you didn’t. You had a rather pleased expression on your face when you were chugging down half the cup.”  
  
“Oh come on.”  
  
“It’s true.”  
  
“Okay, but what if something else was pleasing me?”  
  
“Like…?” Will’s heart hammered in his chest.  
  
“Like … Well…” Paul set down the cup and splayed his large hands on the table. “Fine, it was you.”  
 _  
“What?”_  
  
“Seeing you getting pleasure from watching me, gave me pleasure. I mean -” Paul broke off. “Okay that sounded wrong.”  
  
“It’s okay,” Will said with a smirk.  
  
Paul shifted on his seat. “So are we ever going to talk about it?”  
  
“Talk about what?”  
  
“How we kissed in that very doorway.”  
  
“Well, we’ve kissed before. In fact, I remember we did more than that.”  
  
Paul nodded. “Yeah, that’s true, but the thing with the mistletoe was different. At least it _felt_ different to me.” He looked away. "Maybe I’m wrong about that.”  
  
“No, Paul, you’re not. It was different than the other time. A lot different. The time we had sex… I feel like we were trying to forget our problems, just trying to bury our troubles for an afternoon... but that kiss under the mistletoe…” Will paused for a moment. “That wasn’t about anyone or anything else but -”  
  
“You and me…”  
  
“I mean, yes, our family and friends pushed us into it...”  
  
“I didn’t have to be pushed very hard,” Paul admitted.  
  
Will nodded. “Me either, to be honest. I liked … I liked kissing you.”  
  
“You did?”  
  
“Yes,” Will said.  
  
Paul smiled slowly. “I liked kissing you too.” He touched Will’s hand, making Will shiver. “We should try it again sometime.”  
  
“Right. Just to say we did.”  
  
“Right,” Paul said. His dark eyes had grown hooded and smoky and Will knew that he wanted to be kissed right now. He didn’t want to wait around for “sometime”.  
  
Will and Paul inched towards each other and finally Will felt Paul’s warm lips on his. His hands instinctively went to rest on Paul’s impossibly broad shoulders. He was so into this kiss; it was unreal. The best part? Paul was clearly into it too. His big hands rested on the small of Will’s back and he was practically pulling Will onto his lap.  
  
They only broke apart when they realized that everyone in the place was staring. They laughed and Will resisted the urge to fan his hot face.  
  
The waitress came over to their table, acting like she hadn’t just seen Will and Paul hardcore making out. “Can I get you two anything else?” She asked in a chirpy tone of voice.  
  
Will stared at Paul. Paul laced their fingers. In unison they both shouted, _“check please!”_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who read this. I hope the ending turned out okay! Rock on, Will and Paul fans!

** Part 3 **   
  
“No other self-respecting gay man would be caught dead in this,” Will moaned as he tugged awkwardly at the hem of sweater - his very ugly Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sweater; complete with blinking nose. “I don’t think I can go in there, Mom.”   
  
Sami smirked at him as she juggled Ari on her hip. “Sydney picked it out for you. She wanted you to have something special to wear for the Christmas party at The Pub tonight.”   
  
“Remind me to give her a lesson on fashion sometime,” Will grumbled. “I am going to get a lot of ribbing for this -  _a lot.”_ He sighed as Ari reached out and pinched Rudolph’s blinking nose and giggled. “Hey, at least my daughter is amused.”   
  
“Come on, Will.”   
  
He shrugged. “Okay… Here goes nothing.” He followed Sami inside and looked around. The place was wall-to-wall with party-goers. Festive, flashing lights were strung from the rafters; the punch bowl was nearly overflowing; and there appeared to be desserts and goodies on every available surface. Will’s eyes instinctively moved to the sprig of mistletoe that still hung in the doorway. He thought about his first real kiss with Paul. They’d been doing a lot more than kissing lately and he wondered if the handsome former ball player would be here tonight.  _And I wonder what he’ll think when he sees me in this ridiculous sweater,_ Will mused.   
  
He was soon pulled from this thoughts by John and Marlena who greeted him with embraces. John immediately ribbed him about his sweater. “Lost a bet, eh, kid?” John said and Marlena chuckled.   
  
“Don’t mind him. I think it looks adorable.”   
  
Will scratched his cheek. “Adorable. Yeah, that’s exactly the look I was going for.” Will wanted to ask them if Paul was there, but he didn’t dare. He didn’t want to appear desperate. Worse, needy. Besides, he and Paul weren’t exactly in a relationship. They were sort of … What were they? Friends with benefits? Sex buddies? Fun-time hook up artists? Will didn’t even know how to label them or if he should label them and whatever was going on between them.   
  
“Well, Merry Christmas just the same, Will,” Marlena said. “I’m so glad you’re here tonight and I’m sure I’m not the only one.” She looked pointedly over his head when she said it.   
  
“Huh-” He glanced back and spotted Paul’s head and shoulders towering above the crowd. Will’s heart started hammering like a kick drum in his chest. His cheeks flamed bright red and he smiled.   
  
He turned back to face John and Marlena, but they were already gone. He started moving in Paul’s direction, seemingly drawn to him like a magnet. He pushed through the throng of people. “Excuse me, excuse me,” he said. Paul was doing the same and when they finally reached each other, they smiled, and then ended up pointing at each other and laughing bawdily.   
  
_“Your sweater!”_ Paul chortled.   
  
“And yours!” Will said. Paul’s sweater was possibly even worse than Will’s. It was ugly as hell - a mishmash of every horrible Christmas theme one could conjure up in their imagination - greens and reds and golds… Completely garish as hell.   
  
Will’s eyes were wet with humorous tears. “Did you lose a bet?” He echoed John’s earlier words.   
  
“Actually, I did, with Brady,” Paul laughed too. “What about you?”   
  
“My little sister Sydney decided to play Santa Claus for me,” Will explained.   
  
“We’re putting queer men everywhere to shame. You know that, right?” Paul said.   
  
“I know, God, do I know,” Will said. “But as bad as these things are, at least you sort of uh, fill yours out.” It was true. Paul’s big, broad shoulders were impossible to disguise or ignore. Will felt a shiver of desire course through him.   
  
Paul’s eyes grew stormy. “Thanks… I think.” He smiled. “So … Uh, cookie?” He gestured to the dessert table set up nearby.   
  
“Sure,” Will said.   
  
“What’s your pleasure?” Paul asked.   
  
_You with chocolate chips sprinkled on top,_ Will thought. His cheeks flamed. “Uh, ginger snaps,” he said.   
  
“A man after my own heart.” Paul put three cookies onto two plates and passed one to Will. Will watched Paul’s beautiful mouth as he ate; watched the movement of his lips, the way his tongue darted out to lick every last crumb. God, he was turned on right there in front of God and all of Salem.   
  
“So,” Paul said. “Do you want to take a walk or something?”   
  
_Or something,_ Will thought. “Sure.”   
  
“I figure these sweaters will keep us warm.”   
  
_You can keep me warm._ Will just nodded. They trashed their paper plates and walked outside. A chill was in the air and snow was on the ground. Their boots crunched over ice as they walked.   
  
“Brrr,” Paul said, rubbing his hands together. “It’s colder out here than I thought it’d be.”   
  
“We can go back inside…” That was actually the very last thing Will wanted to do.   
  
“No, it’s… Maybe we can sit in my car for awhile…”   
  
Will’s heart started racing again. “Okay.” Who wouldn’t want to be alone in close quarters with Paul Narita?   
  
They walked towards the parking lot. “It’s this one,” Paul said, leading them over to a dark Lexus. He popped the locks and they climbed inside - Paul in the driver’s seat; Will in the passenger's. They just sat there for a long moment, saying nothing. Will desperately wanted to lean across the console and kiss Paul. He was about to do just that when Paul surprised him by kissing him first.   
  
Paul cupped Will’s cheeks in his hands and stared into his eyes, giving him a long kiss on the lips. Will moaned into Paul’s mouth. His hands slipped up to rest on Paul’s well-muscled arms. Paul’s tongue slid past Will's lips and entangled with his. Will was thoroughly breathless by the time they came up for air.   
  
“That was great,” Will murmured.   
  
Paul smiled as he rested his forehead against Will’s. “It was … I like kissing you, Will. I like… so much about you. Even your Rudolph sweater.”   
  
“Oh ha-ha.” Will leaned forward and kissed the column of Paul’s throat, moving his lips along the smooth skin there. He suckled on the taut vein there and nipped him. Paul arched upwards. His arms knotted around Will’s waist and he murmured Will’s name in a low, husky voice.   
  
Will’s hands slid down to the buckle on Paul’s belt. He started to pry the catch loose but Paul stilled his hand. “Don’t, Will,” Paul said.   
  
Will yanked his hand away like he had been burned. “Sorry. I thought -”   
  
“No, Will. It’s not that. It’s just - your daughter is about ten feet away inside. If someone brings her out here … I want this too, believe me I do... but not here. Not right now. The truth is, I like everything we do together. I actually like who I am with you, Will.”   
  
Will smiled. “Really?”   
  
“Yes. I didn’t think after Sonny … There’d be anyone I could connect with like this but … I’m starting to feel something … Something I didn’t expect... for you. You’re winning me over, Will.”   
  
Will’s eyes grew a little misty. “It’s the sweater, isn’t it?” He said quietly.   
  
“Partly the sweater,” Paul said. “But also… Well, I like that you’re … you.” He then leaned over and kissed Will again. “Hey... Merry Christmas, Will.”   
  
“Merry Christmas, Paul.”   
  
**THE END.**


End file.
